2003 - I get introduced to the hobby by a close friend in college and remember always wanting to play it as a broke MTG TCG kid. Being 20 and fond of the drink as well as the whole eye of terror campaign with the 13th company, Space wolves was a natural fit. I bought their starter set, assembled my army and played maybe 2 games where I was dominated by my same friends tau list. I bought a few Eldar models (snipers and psychics) to make an Iyanden themed army (could definitely be wrong about which craft world.) I realized shortly after this that I was a broke college kid and couldn't really afford to keep it up and it fell by the way side.
2007-08 - I get my first job where I get paid decently and just finished a stint being heavily into a certain MMO that will not be named. Because of that MMO, I learned that I am a melee kind of guy and choose to play the only power armor force that was not only poorly represented at my LGS but also specialized in rediculous CC. I started my Black Templars with much zeal and passion, buying way too many models too early (read about 3.5k points worth) and trying to do too much in terms of conversions and green stuff modeling. Eventually I convinced myself to stop buying models but had trouble getting myself to finish the dauting amount of BT I had left to do
To combat this in the most idiotic way possible, I chose to start a Thousand Sons themed army again because I was realistically just a kid with expendable income and I've always liked their fluff (seeing as I originally was into SW). I buy about 1.5k points worth of models but again I try to do stuff far beyond my ability (metallic looking thousand sons via triple washing blue and very watered down yellow on top of a silver base.) and don't get far due to it being over my ability to do well and less free time.
At this point I start to work on my BT's again but at a slow pace and after a while I decide that I really want to play Tau due to the great fluff, the fact that no one in my area fielded them, and because I loved the idea of the crises suits. I buy about a thousand points and assemble it but don't paint. I play about 7 matches with it but then I get a new job which made it impossible for me to play at my LGS during their play times. Shortly after this, I lost my job due to the bad economy in 2010 and even though I had a ton of free time for a very long time, I had so many unpainted models that it just felt daunting to even try to start painting again.
2012 - I end up having to move back home due to financial issues. I sell off my assembled tau to my good friend who originally got me into the hobby back in '03. After the move, I decide to go through my old 40k giant box of bits and boxes. I find that I have about what is now about $400 USD worth of unopened stuff (mostly tau), about 22 unassembled vanilla marine bits (33 if I bought more legs) and I end up selling about 3/4's of it for close to what I originally paid for it all. Shortly after this, I'm finally get offered a new career that pays decently and I still had that money from selling the unopened boxes in my pocket.
After my first paycheck (shortly after 6th drops), I decide that I will start up 40k again the right way. The right way being buying 1 thing at a time and not allowing myself to buy anything else until what I have currently bought is assembled, magnetized, and painted up to my standards. I still feel that my BT collection is too daunting of a task and with my better understanding of the rules and, lets be honest, the changes to their vows. I decided to go back to my original love of the Space Wolves.
At this point I have only bought the starter box but I've cleaned all the bits and sorted them for assembly including throwing in those 22 vanilla marines I found since I can mix and match pieces and still have a fluffy looking army. I also got kind of lucky with my SW battle force because instead of the 20 grey hunters I was supposed to get, I got 4 more sprues of scouts which GW allowed me to keep after my warranty exchange. I will start my paint train this week after work and I'm very excited to do so.
Beyond - I've already planned out my purchase order for my SW's and once my 2k is ready, i plan to just play for a long, long time. However, I really want to finish up my 1k sons army (using more traditional techniques) and will probably throw in tzeentch demon allies for the fun of it sometime after Chaos gets a new codex and my pocket book is back to normal.
TL;DR - 40k is a hell of a drug. Moderation is your friend...